7 Dance Performances to See in NYC This Weekend

Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

‘BALANCHINE’S ETERNAL PRESENT: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF PAUL KOLNIK’ at the 92nd Street Y (Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m.). This special presentation honors the photographer who has spent more than 40 years capturing New York City Ballet. In an evening of conversation with the company’s former principal Darci Kistler — regarded as George Balanchine’s last ballerina — Mr. Kolnik talks about Balanchine’s ballets and his images, which he refers to as “illuminated documents.” Mr. Kolnik’s work is currently on view in the Y’s Weill Art Gallery through May 8.212-415-5500, 92y.org

JÉRÔME BEL at N.Y.U. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (March 1-2, 7:30 p.m., March 3, 3 p.m.). For “Gala,” the French choreographer showcases 20 New Yorkers, some professional dancers and others amateurs, ranging in age from 8 to 80. This structurally simple work, in which performers cross the stage while enacting specific actions, emphasizes, in the end, the power of movement in humorous and poignant ways. The matinee on March 3, a production of N.Y.U. Skirball’s Serious Fun Family Matinee series and the third annual Tilt Kids Festival, is for children ages 7 and up and includes special preshow activities beginning at 2 p.m.212-998-4941, nyuskirball.org

COMPANY WAYNE MCGREGOR at the Joyce Theater (Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., through March 3). How can you tell your story in a dance without resorting to narrative? In “Autobiography,” the British choreographer and director creates a movement palette inspired by the sequence of his own genome as well as by moments from his personal history. The work includes set design and projections by the visual artist Ben Cullen Williams, an electronic score by Jlin and lighting by Lucy Carter. The March 3 matinee at 2 p.m. is part of a new Joyce initiative called “Pay What You Decide,” in which spectators are able to first watch the show and then decide how much to pay.212-242-0800, joyce.org

‘DANCING PLATFORM PRAYING GROUNDS: BLACKNESS, CHURCHES AND DOWNTOWN DANCE’ at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church and other locations (Feb. 28-March 24). The choreographer Reggie Wilson serves as the guest curator for this exploration of the intersection of race, religion and dance, as well as the architecture and history of St. Mark’s Church, the home of Danspace Project. Conceived by the organization’s executive director and chief curator, Judy Hussie-Taylor, as a way to delve deeper into a subject, the “Platform” series is always worth paying attention to, but this one, opening at the Great Hall at the Cooper Union, promises to be especially rich. Included are performances, discussions and walking tours.866-811-4111, danspaceproject.org

NEW YORK CITY BALLET at the David H. Koch Theater (through March 4). The company wraps up its winter season with a week of repertory, including “Stravinsky and Balanchine,” a splendid showcase of ballets choreographed by George Balanchine and set to music by Igor Stravinsky, including “Agon” and Symphony in Three Movements. As part of that program, on Feb. 27, Erica Pereira and Joseph Gordon make their debuts in Balanchine’s 1972 “Divertimento From ‘Le Baiser de la Fée.’” And the “Here/Now” program, which opens on Feb. 24, is topped by Alexei Ratmansky’s “Namouna, a Grand Divertissement.” It’s a delight. 212-496-0600, nycballet.com

PANTA REI DANCE THEATER at the Schimmel Center (Feb. 23-24, 7:30 p.m.). This company from Oslo makes its debut in the United States with “Lullaby,” a work from 2015 for three men. Featuring choreography by Anne Holck Ekenes, Pia Holden and Hélène Blackburn and a live score by the Norwegian musician and composer Sverre Indris Joner, the production explores, in part, the relationship between brutality and masculinity while juxtaposing aggression with vulnerability. The dancers are Gareth Mole, Johnny Autin and Matias Ronningen.212-346-1715, schimmelcenter.org

ABBY Z AND THE NEW UTILITY at the 92nd Street Y (Feb. 23, 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.). The 92 Y Harkness Dance Festival leads off with Abby Zbikowski’s acclaimed 2017 dance, “Abandoned Playground,” of which the choreographer writes in a program note: “Doing it gets us all through it.” This highly physical work for nine pushes the boundaries of endurance with a movement vocabulary that draws on hip-hop, tap, West African and postmodern dance traditions, combined with a punk aesthetic. Relying on an extreme pace, they, in other words, go for broke.212-415-5500, 92y.org